Monday, July 7, 2014

Hollywood's Summer Box-office Catastrophe

In
terms of box-office performance, summer 2014 is not exactly turning out to be
the blockbuster season Hollywood had been hoping for. The Fourth of July
holiday weekend, which is typically a key revenue generating time period for
Hollywood, has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.

Newly
released movies actually brought in 44 percent fewer dollars than they did in
last year’s matching time slot, handing the entertainment industry one of the
worst Independence Day weekends it has ever experienced.

Contributing
to the downtrend is the raunchy R-rated film "Tammy," which stars
Melissa McCarthy. The comedy recently underperformed in a dramatic way,
bringing in an estimated $21 million over the weekend and a total gross of $33
million since its release. By comparison, analysts and studio executives
harbored expectations that the movie would gross around $45 million in the
five-day span. [more...]